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Around 100 staff working at a Nottingham BT centre handle four-and-a-half million 999 emergency calls every year.

The workers, based at a secret city centre location, answer 86,000 calls a week and direct callers to the relevant emergency services, whether it be fire, police or ambulance.

They handle emergency calls from across the country and recently received the first reports of the Grenfell Tower blaze in London, as well as the London Bridge and Manchester Arena terror attacks.

The Nottingham centre is just one of six in the UK.

Manager Tim Harding spoke to The Post on Friday (June 30) to mark the 80th anniversary of the 999 service, which launched in London on June 30, 1937.

It came after a Government committee was established to look at how telephone operators could identify emergency calls after a fire in a London doctor's surgery in November 1935 led to the death of five women.

Mr Harding said: "We take calls from all over - England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - and we route them to the nearest authority.

"Anything you see in the news, we will have taken a call for that - that's how important we are.

"The commitment and the pride they [the staff] get in giving that service, it's outstanding. It should be something that Nottingham knows about. There's only six of these [centres] around - there's only two in England."

Mr Harding was joined by Eileen Haynes - who answered emergency calls during the Blitz - for a celebration to mark the anniversary of 999.

The 95-year-old, of Chilwell, began her telephone career in London in 1940 and continued on and off until her retirement in 1987.

Sharing a couple of stand-out memories, she said: "My supervisor came round and told us not to be alarmed but a bomb had dropped through the lift shaft and it hadn't gone off.

"We had to stay there and answer calls."

Mr Harding said: "Eileen had the same dedication and the same commitment to be there to help people.

"This job is something we can be proud of."

While many of the 999 calls handled by staff at the Nottingham centre related to very serious incidents, some are not considered to be emergencies.

Here are some examples of calls handled by call centre staff;

Advisor: "Do you need fire, police or ambulance?"

Caller: "I'm sorry to call 999 but I was looking for 101 and I don't know the number."

Advisor: "Do you need fire, police or ambulance?"

Caller: "Well it's quite urgent. My rabbit has escaped, I need help."

Advisor: "Do you need fire, police or ambulance?"

Caller: "I need the police please. It is my daughter's wedding day and her dress doesn't fit anymore. I need the police to come and help me get her in it."